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Mliswa takes on Zanu PF

Politics
NORTON legislator, Temba Mliswa is demanding that Zanu PF explains its abuse of national resources, especially its partisan donation of residential stands.

NORTON legislator, Temba Mliswa is demanding that Zanu PF explains its abuse of national resources, especially its partisan donation of residential stands.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

(From left) Temba Mliswa, Saviour Kasukuwere and Norton war vets at the minister’s offices in Harare
(From left) Temba Mliswa, Saviour Kasukuwere and Norton war vets at the minister’s offices in Harare

Mliswa said he met Local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere at his offices on Tuesday, seeking an explanation on why his ministry had given Zanu PF youths, led by their secretary Kudzai Chipanga, powers to distribute state land along partisan lines.

“I did not meet the Zanu PF commissar, but the minister of local government so that we could have some issues addressed. I have 700 people who are homeless in Norton after they were evicted from Kingsdale Farm. secondly, I wanted to know why stands are being distributed on partisan lines,” he said.

The former Hurungwe West MP, who lost his seat after being fired from Zanu PF, said war veterans in his constituency had also approached him because they also wanted stands.

“I am a legislator and when people come to me with concerns, I have to find a way of addressing them. I had to meet the minister to get answers,” he said.

Pictures of the meeting between Kasukuwere and Mliswa have gone viral after first being shared on micro-blogging site Twitter by Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo.

Many saw it as the first sign yet that Mliswa could be on his way back to Zanu PF after hoodwinking the MDC-T into backing his bid for the Norton parliamentary seat in a by-election.

Zimbabwean blogger Blessing Vava used the picture to mock MDC-T, saying it had been dribbled by Mliswa to give him support before his return to Zanu PF.

“This is what happens when we have a clueless opposition and an ideologically bankrupt civil society. Tyson (Kasukuwere) and Mliswa this morning,” he wrote on his page.

Mliswa dismissed the speculation as absurd, saying he did not see himself going back to Zanu PF.

“Meeting Kasukuwere does not mean I am going back to Zanu PF. How do you expect me to represent the people if I don’t meet government ministers?”